Should You Be Using Videos on Websites? Find Out Now!

Using videos on websites and blogs is essential, but understanding the Pros & Cons of Having Video on Your Site or Blog can be even more important.

Marketing videos are not a new thing, but they are definitely evolving and exponentially gaining popularity. Unsurprisingly, 2018 is going to be a big year for video, as social media platforms have recently introduced new features of native videos to help marketers expand their strategies. But what about using video on your website or blog to make that striking first impression and grasp your visitors’ attention?

Video can also be a very powerful tool to convey your message and tell your brand’s story on a website or blog. However, this type of medium especially can make things worse if you don’t understand the possible drawbacks. In order to utilize video on your website to its best potential, let’s look into the pros and cons of using it.

The pros of marketing videos on websites/blogs

Videos quickly capture interest. When a video starts playing, people are instantly drawn in, and that moment of capturing attention is much more effortless than a textual introduction, which people may or may not read. Better than images, videos have the unique quality of pulling people in, as your story is put into motion in a matter of seconds.

They can help you gain trust from your prospects. A video can do a great job of humanizing your brand, if done properly. Viewers are more inclined to trust a brand if their product or service is presented in a video by a confident, friendly person who’s speaking about the given topic with enthusiasm. This is one of the main reasons why video marketing can improve conversion rates.

Videos help you convey your message effortlessly, concisely, and boldly. They simply do a much better job of telling your story than a text because they’re the closest thing to real in-person communication. The time it takes to get your point across in this format is much shorter than the time it would take for a person to read your entire message – and viewers really appreciate this.

Longer videos can also work well. Of course, you don’t want to bore people and make them leave, but if you have a lot of points you want to get across, an engaging an informative video is still much easier to follow than a long, long text. It’s recommended to keep videos short because viewers generally have a low attention span, but nevertheless, if you can make up to 30 minutes of a dynamic and effective presentation, it will still feel engaging and beneficial to the viewer.

They offer more flexibility in communication. You can use different communication styles in your video, which gives you the option of conveying your message in a way that’s most fitting for that message. Special effects, closed captions, lighting, movement, etc. – these are all tools that allow you to be more convincing and manipulate how the message is perceived. You can use video to simply tell a story, explain something thoroughly with the help of animations, or present compelling information using voice-over: video is great for mixing media.

Videos give you dual exposure. Your video will appear on the platform of your choice (e.g. YouTube or Vimeo) and in Google search results as well. It can also be optimized through video SEO (VSEO) to rank higher in search results and help you gain more visibility.

You can unite a video with other relevant content. A video can be repurposed multiple times; only if it is relevant, of course. But you’ll find that there are numerous opportunities to include your video on different pages of your website or blog so you can engage readers and use the benefits of this medium more than once.

Well, it seems like there’s no question to whether a video on your site or blog would work. And you’re right – it would!

But there are still some drawbacks you need to be wary of, and they’re mostly oriented at how you use video.

The Cons of Using Video on Websites

A poorly executed video will damage your reputation. Low-quality or poorly executed videos, just like low-quality images, are simply off-putting to viewers. Keep in mind that many brands employ reputable video production companies to help them execute everything professionally. That means that the standard is set really high, and your viewers expect a lot. A cheap-looking video is worse than a text that’s written poorly because it not only makes you look unprofessional and shady, but also really outdated.

Poorly executed video integration will harm your stats. Taking time to integrate your video properly into your site will improve user experience as well as your site’s SEO value. On the other hand, not doing this won’t leave you at status quo – it will lower your stats, increase the bounce rate, and slow UX.

Autoplay can be really annoying. Many people opt for autoplay videos thinking that it will draw the viewer in and keep them there. But pushing content on people can get them very irritated, especially in the case of frequent visitors (customers, subscribers, etc.). If you’re trying to reduce your site’s bounce rate, a video that starts by itself every time can make a huge dent in your efforts.

You have to be very careful with length. As we’ve mentioned before, longer videos can work well – but only if you make them dynamic, entertaining, informative, concise, and most importantly, carefully tailored to your target audience. Now, that’s a lot of things to look out for. Unless you have a strong grasp on all these favorable characteristics, a long video can have a very negative impact on viewers and actually deter them from your message. Experts suggest that it’s best to keep videos up to a minute long, as you can expect a third of viewers to abandon the video within the first 30 seconds.

Using video when it’s not needed is overkill. Quite simply, an image, a short and sweet text, or an infographic can be more interesting or valuable than a video in some cases. It’s important to choose your medium genuinely, looking for what works best with what you have to say – and also understanding your target demographic. For example, although video works marvelously with Millennials, elderly audiences might see the video as an unnecessary distraction; they might have a slower internet connection (meaning slower loading speed for your video) or they might simply not be inclined to accept this new way of presentation.

Video production requires time, money, and effort. This is a rather obvious point, but it is good to always keep in mind if you choose to make a video for your site – otherwise, you might be in for a lot of frustration and unpleasant surprises.

By all means, if you’re ready for the endeavor, go all in and start brainstorming ideas for your first video. The pros speak for themselves – this medium can do wonders for your website or blog. But remember the drawbacks at all times because understanding them will help you evade them and do your absolute best with this project.

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Meaghan is a web designer who is also quite passionate about digital marketing. These days she is all about researching various IT related topics and collaborating with other bloggers. When she is not working she enjoys dancing classical ballet.

2 Comments

Hi Meaghan,
Thanks for the wonderful shout out about the need of videos on our websites.
You very well presented its pros and cons in this regard. A well captured high-quality video is the one we need to add on your web pages. Yes, the poor quality of the video will spoil our reputation.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful alerts.
Keep sharing.
I found this post link shared on the pages of Bizsugar I upvoted it and commented.
Thanks for sharing.
Best Regards
~ Philip